OHIO RIVER TRAIL COUNCIL

Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.

—Charles M. Schulz

Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world. 

—Grant Petersen

Too often, the advocates of trails and linear parks along rights-of-way come up against officials who recognize only one kind of park–the squared-off kind that comes in chunks; and one kind of recreation–the supervised kind known as ‘organized sweating.’ Such officials refuse to acknowledge that there has been a change in US recreation trends, reflected in the phenomenal growth of hiking, biking, and horseback riding… 

—Constance Stallings

Trails have multiple values and their benefits reach far beyond recreation. Trails can enrich the quality of life for individuals, make communities more livable, and protect, nurture, and showcase America’s grandeur by traversing areas of natural beauty, distinctive geography, historic significance, and ecological diversity. Trails are important for the nation’s health, economy, resource protection and education.  

—American Trails, Trails for All Americans report, 1990

As a kid I had a dream–I wanted to own my own bicycle. When I got the bike I must have been the happiest boy in Liverpool, maybe the world. I lived for that bike. 

—John Lennon

Since the bicycle makes little demand on material or energy resources, contributes little to pollution, makes a positive contribution to health and causes little death or injury, it can be regarded as the most benevolent of machines. 

— S. S. Wilson, Bicycle Technology, Scientific American, March 1973

Imagine walking out your front door, getting on a bicycle, a horse or simply donning your backpack and within minutes of your home, setting off along a continuous network of recreation corridors that could lead across the country. 

—President Reagan’s Commission on American Outdoors, Americans and the Outdoors, 1987

I have too many bikes. Said no cyclist, ever.

—Unknown

The [Great Allegheny Passage] Trail is already attracting a lot of people, and were just starting to market it. It’s a major asset for our region, not only because of the tourist dollars it’s attracting, but also because it’s a piece of our economic rebuilding efforts.

—John P. Murtha, U.S. Congressman (D-Penn)

The proposed Ohio River Trail, when completed will enhance and further develop recreational opportunities for the communities along the Ohio River Trail corridors as well as the region, by linking existing and proposed pedestrian, bicycle, recreation, open space, and transportation facilities while protecting environmental and cultural resources and improving public access to the river’s edge. One of the major outcomes of the project will be to foster further recreation and cultural-based economic development within the local communities and the region, capitalizing on the synergy of ecotourism and the potential development of a larger recreation and parks system as a way to reposition all the evolved communities for the 21st century business and lifestyle needs.

—Sean Garrigan, Ohio River Trail Feasibility Study Principal